Cover Story
Kentucky Derby 2018: The Biggest Week In Bourbontown
When the editors of the brand new Sports Illustrated cobbled together the money to pay William Faulkner to come to Louisville to write about the mad scene leading up to the 1955 Kentucky Derby, they had but one real concern: how to keep the famously thirsty Southern writer away from the city’s equally well known,…
The Cure Lounge is closing
A haven for the stranger side of life, The Cure Lounge will soon close their doors, as its lease, which it was unable to renew, runs out May 18. So named for the Robert Smith fronted band, The Cure Lounge has leaned into that image of the outcast or loner, a hub for fringe culture,…
Our six favorite local songs from April
Jane. — “Keep Coming Back” Any track that evokes the latter era of The Birthday Party, especially the bass guitar work of the inimitable Tracy Pew, is always absolutely welcome. “Keep Coming Back” seethes with danger, a fierce and guttural rage punctuated by feedback, plodding drums and the wonderful voice of singer Christy O’Connell. There…
10 under $5 – What To Do This Week In Louisville (4/30)
MONDAY Democratic Primary Candidate Forum – Louisville Mayor IBEW Local 369 Union Hall Free | 7-8 p.m. Hear from all of the candidates running in the Democratic primary for mayor: including Mayor Greg Fischer, Ryan Fenwick, Lawrence Bold Williams, Dave Biggers and Daniel Gillette. The forum will be moderated by Phillip M. Bailey (a former…
Found In Translation: Great food at places you wouldn’t expect (Part 2)
Most dining scenes worth their salt are peppered with the types of restaurants that project a well-defined concept and an easily discernible identity, yet do one curveball on their menu really well. Something that seems maybe out of place. An item you wouldn’t immediately assume to order at a place like this, because who would…
A Q&A with equine artist Jaime Corum
Equine artist Jaime Corum (jaimecorumequineart.com) is busy this time of year. LEO Weekly has made her even busier by asking if she would do this Q&A and lend her art for our April 25 Derby issue cover. We’re happy she complied. LEO: What type of artist are you? Jaime Corum: I am primarily an oil…
5 Things To Do This Weekend In Louisville (4/27)
FRIDAY Halfway to Halloween Parties (April 27–28) Mag Bar | Waterfront Park | The Nachbar Prices and times vary For those who can’t wait for Halloween (seriously though, summer just got here — what is wrong with you!?), there are a few Halfway to Halloween parties this weekend. On Friday, Mag Bar is hosting a…
Growing Kentucky’s economy with hemp
For far too long, the federal government has prevented most farmers from growing hemp. Although it was a foundational part of Kentucky’s heritage and today you can buy products made with hemp at stores across the country, most farmers have been barred from planting it in their fields. I have heard from many Kentucky farmers…
Local horseman behind Derby favorites
Many people who join a horse racing partnership enter with fanciful dreams of reaching a pinnacle like Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. More times than not, reality paints a far different picture for them, making special moments such as owning a Kentucky Derby starter even more delightful and magical. Come May 5,…
Tim Faulkner Gallery is moving
After four years on the vanguard of an ambitious plan to revive Portland, Tim Faulkner Gallery will close by April 30 and reopen this summer in Paristown Pointe. Below, gallery co-owner Margaret Archambault reflects on the gallery’s evolution and its highs and lows in Portland. Developer Gill Holland said the Portland space remains part of…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst, Best & Most Absurd
Bevin goes off script | Thorn Just as we suspected, there was a right-wing script for how to respond to recent teacher walkouts. Gov. Matt “Never To Blame” Bevin had to have read it, but he screwed even that up. The Guardian newspaper published a “messaging guide” it said was distributed by the State Policy…
New cassette tape maker helps local record labels
Over the past few years, the world has been running out of cassette tape, as the last company to produce high-quality tape closed its doors in South Korea in 2014. But the National Audio Co. in Springfield, Missouri will soon be able to make 20,000 feet per minute, and that is good news for small,…
KMAC’s new exhibit, “Spin: Turning Records ?Into Art”
One of the installations in the KMAC Museum’s new show “Spin: Turning Records Into Art” looks like a pop-up record store and contains nothing but 2,000 copies of “The White Album” by the Beatles. Some are drawn on. Some are stained. Some hang from the wall. Some are ordered by their serial numbers in bins.…
Record Review: Transgression – ‘Power Shift’
With hard-hitting, sludgy riffs and primal, seek-and-destroy screams, Transgression’s hardcore punk has a heart full of napalm. The three songs on Power Shift, about love lost and social imbalance, have an intense, visceral surface and a poetic, sharp and pissed-off lyrical undercurrent. The album’s opening track “Heavy On My Mind” dives into how love can…
Record Review: Touch AC + Dr. Dundiff – ‘DEATH’
There is an interesting dichotomy between the vibe of the production and the general themes of death on the newest album by emcee Touch AC, joined here by Dr. Dundiff. There is something so entirely joyous about the total package, from Dundiff’s energetic beats, to Touch’s fierce delivery. Punctuated with what sounds like children’s book…
Record Review: Meridian Signals? – ‘Hauntological Studies Vol. 1’
The work of LEO contributor Michael C. Powell, Meridian Signals pays homage to the works of Boards of Canada or Tycho, lo-fi electronic jams. Despite the ominous title, Hauntological Studies Vol. 1 serves more as a retro-future take on pop culture ephemera, broadcast signals chopped and screwed, flitting in and out of existence on the…
Record Review: Joan Shelley – ‘River and Vessels’
Joan Shelley and Nick Drake share a lot of qualities as vocalists, but mostly there’s an indescribable power in their hushed, calming tones that radiates a sharp sincerity. So, it’s fitting on Shelley’s new album of covers that the first song is Drake’s “Time Has Told Me,” a wise and poetic folk song with stark,…
Derby art for the win!
The Kentucky Derby takes around two minutes to be run, but we’ve managed to talk and write about it for months as a cottage/Churchill Downs mansion-sized industry. That’s good, as it’s important for many businesses, including creative ones. In my humble opinion (who am I kidding?), the best equestrian artists in Louisville are Jeaneen Barnhart…
Dos and Don’ts of derby Dining Out
Derby Week is almost upon us! All over the city, chefs and restaurant managers are tweaking their menus, their training and their scheduling, anticipating the many Louisvillians and out-of-towners who will flood their establishments in the coming days. You and your guests can have successful dining experiences in the River City during this whirlwind time…
For that healthy buzz
As a lifelong consumer of healthy, delicious cuisine, or even vegan and vegetarian “junk food,” if you will, I’ve forever been hunting for the perfect collision of natural nourishment and a thoughtful bar program under one roof. While restaurant proprietors in other, larger cities have delightfully paired booze with health, it seems as though Louisville…
Gulf seafood in the Bluegrass
One of my recent loves in life has been Royal Red shrimp, a Gulf delicacy that rarely finds its way out of the region in which it is caught. They’re scarcer than the brown shrimp and even the Gulf pink shrimp, in part because they live deep in Gulf waters. So, in short, I thought…
Dancing with the green fairy… and a sausage
“After the first glass [of absinthe], you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.” —Oscar Wilde In case you missed it, Monday, March 5, was National Absinthe…
Savage Love: Crushed
Q: I’m a straight male in my 30s. I’ve been with my wife for 12 years. I have had several affairs. Not one-night-stand scenarios, but longer-term connections. I didn’t pursue any of these relationships. Instead, women who knew I was in an “exclusive” relationship have approached me. These have included what turned into a one-year…
Carl Brown, his life enriched many others
[Editor’s note: Former LEO columnist Carl Brown died recently. Below, LEO founder John Yarmuth remembers his life, and below that is a Brown column on his favorite target, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.] When I heard of Carl Brown’s death, one of my first thoughts was that I hoped his brain had been donated for scientific…
Derby and Kid Rock apology
People speak in bumper sticker, and I fucking hate it! There is no way your brain is so easily summed up with a collection of slapped-on platitudes stating how simply rad and righteous you are, while negating the fact you’re a trash mammal living on stolen land… there’s no fucking way! And yet bumper sticker…
Gangs of Louisville
If Gov. Matt Bevin had been in a college fraternity, he would have been a member of a gang, according to the criteria of House Bill 169, which awaits his signature or veto. By the letter of the “Gang Violence Prevention Act” many, if not most, college fraternities should be recognized as gangs. They are…
